


See The World Lit So Bright

by BisKitty



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Celebrity, First Meetings, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Sourin Xmas Xchange, Style Five, shameless fluff, they're so so awkward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 07:56:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5531705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BisKitty/pseuds/BisKitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sousuke felt his stomach do a full floor routine that included two somersaults and a cartwheel for good measure as his suspicions? fears? were confirmed.</p><p>Rin Matsuoka in the flesh. (Sousuke is only a little bit starstruck.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	See The World Lit So Bright

**Author's Note:**

> Written for ringuinee as part of the Sourin Xmas Xchange! I hope you enjoy it!

“Oh please, Sousuke, you have all their CDs, and a poster of Rin,” Kisumi tore his eyes away from the plethora of brightly colored sweaters on the rack to give Sousuke a very pointed look.  
  
“You were the one who got me the limited edition of Neo Blue Breathing in the first place,” Sousuke stuffed his arms into his coat pockets, leaning further back against the pole and avoiding any eye contact.  
  
Kisumi clicked his tongue, “And you were the one that happened to get rid of all the posters except for Rin’s.” Sousuke could almost _hear_ Kisumi roll his eyes back into his head.  
  
“Untrue,” Sousuke scowled at the ground.  
  
“Inside of your closet door,” Kisumi caught Sousuke’s slight wince and grinned to himself. “I’ve seen your phone, too. Your background is still Rin in his splash free outfit, Sou-chan.” Sousuke considered switching it back to something less incriminating, perhaps the semi-abstract collection of blue blobs it had been previously.

Sousuke, on his part, decided that staring at the wall of printed shirts across the room from him was much more interesting than dignifying his friend with a response. What were friends for, if not to ignore in favor of shirts displaying pugs charmingly dressed as kermit the frog or ones emblazoned with age old adages like ‘Welcome to the Gun Show’ and “Witness the Fitness”.

His silent musings on the merits of the timeless wisdom presented by the shirts was interrupted by a firm tug on his coat.  
  
“I’m not sure about the outfit, but the coat is really nice-“  
  
Sousuke looked down to get a glimpse of the would-be admirer The sudden movement sent the shorter man back a good two feet in the blink of an eye, and Sousuke half-expected the guy to have managed to jump completely out of his skin while he was at it.

The shorter man had red hair that was loosely pulled into a short, low ponytail (it couldn’t be), and even Sousuke could tell that the sunglasses partially-obscuring the other man’s face were significantly pricier than the $2 ones that Sousuke was regularly buying-then-promptly-losing. The stranger also seemed to have a shark theme going on—a t-shirt with a fashionably faded print design of a shark, complete with a shark tooth necklace around his neck (it _couldn’t_ be). He afforded a quick glance at the stranger’s impossibly-tight skinny jeans before realizing that yes, in fact, Sousuke was checking him out. Sousuke felt his face heat up a little.  
  
“I’m sorry. I had thought you were a mannequin, and I was just looking at the coat—” The stranger-with-the-much-too-familiar-voice babbled and seemed about ready to shrink back into his shirt and tight jeans like a turtle into some sort of vacuum-sealed shell.

Mistaken for a mannequin, huh? He had always assumed Kisumi’s outbursts of “Sousuke, you perfect, glittering Adonis” were more hyperbole than anything else. His best friend’s terms of endearment were nothing if not memorable.  
  
“Sorry,” was all Sousuke managed to stammer out.

The other man seemed a little surprised, and let out a nervous little laugh before he ended up pulling off the glasses and pushing the hair out of his face. Sousuke felt his stomach do a full floor routine that included two somersaults and a cartwheel for good measure as his suspicions? fears? were confirmed.

Rin Matsuoka in the flesh.

This wasn’t exactly how Sousuke wanted to meet. At the moment, he could barely string letters into a word, let alone multiple words together. He wasn’t exactly someone who was good at, well, _people_ , and it was much easier to disappoint a living, breathing person than a picture. Sousuke shifted from one foot to the other, wondering if it was feasible to pluck apart his atoms just enough to allow himself to meld with the floor right then and there. He could also settle for digging a nice sized hole and burrowing into there to hibernate for approximately the next century.

The man— _Rin_ —cleared his throat a little and gave Sousuke a shy smile. “You’re sorry? Do you get mistaken for one a lot?” 

Sousuke felt a small smile inch its way across his face. He swallowed in an attempt to stifle some of the giddy electricity buzzing its way through his chest. “Not often enough.”

Rin laughed at that, and Sousuke felt his entire face heat up.

“So you put on nice coats to lurk in stores to flirt?” Rin gave him a grin, sharp teeth and all, that looked downright predatory and Sousuke felt himself short circuit. He yanked off his coat before unceremoniously stuffing it in the other man’s arms. Sousuke used the moment of utter confusion to promptly flee the store. Kisumi could find him later, possibly living as a hermit in a remote region, possibly hiding in his room, or more likely, wandering the streets with no coat on. Rin had seemed to like the coat anyways, he tried to remind himself.

It took another two blocks of fast-walking before Sousuke realized he had left his phone in his coat.

 

~~~

 

From many years of experience, Kisumi managed to track him down in about ten minutes. Sousuke at least had the sense to find a bench in a nearby shopping plaza to plant himself, rather than risk wandering too far.

He felt dread coil in his stomach when he realized that Kisumi was already laughing during his approach.

“You know, Sou-chan, Rin said that it’s pretty hard to autograph a coat and a phone,” Kisumi sat down on the bench beside him, holding out the phone. Sousuke, for his part, decided to bury his face in his hands and groan.

“Imagine my shock when I look up to see you stuff all of your belongings into a superstar’s arms. Smooth,” Kisumi placed the phone on Sousuke’s thigh before nudging his friend’s side. “Both Rin and his escort were pretty surprised.”

Kisumi gave Sousuke a few moments of silence before he stood up and offered his hand to his friend. Sousuke used the help to get up and slid his phone back into his pocket. It would be nice to go home, and perhaps hide all of his Style Five merchandise and never speak of it again.  
  
Kisumi waited a block and a half before speaking, “I hope he doesn’t have a secret girlfriend.” Sousuke felt himself choke.

 

~~~

 

Once home, Sousuke decided to take it easy. After all, he felt like he had accomplished a great many things; he had embarrassed himself in front of his celebrity crush and given away his favorite coat. But at least he now had a single thing to say in case he ever got dragged to a party. Well, if people could drag him away from the food table and ignore his social discomfort-induced scowl for long enough to actually start a conversation, that is.

He dropped his phone down onto the far side of the bed before laying face down and burying his face into a pillow. He could wait until later to gather up his Style Five merchandise and make them arrangements for a Viking funeral.

He took a few deep breaths. Focusing in on his breathing had always helped him calm down before swimming tournaments, so surely it would help now. Sousuke could very well go swimming the next day, and forget about this whole mess. As long as he was in the water, he could focus only on himself and his own efforts.

Sousuke felt his phone buzz.

He groaned a little before he rolled over on his bed and picked the phone up to read the new message- likely Kisumi wanting Sousuke to dish out more details from Sousuke’s brief and hopefully (for his poor heart’s sake) only brush with stardom.

_Is this Sousuke??_

The sender’s name was a winking face with a star, likely Kisumi’s handiwork given past experience. Sousuke frowned a bit before typing his reply. 

**Yeah.**

**Who is this?**

Sousuke watched the three dots at the bottom of the screen for a few minutes before they finally disappeared. No reply. Sousuke switched to his conversation with Kisumi, starting to type an accusatory message before the screen went dark as the winking face called him. Sousuke nearly dropped the phone as he tried to hit the call button.

“Hello?” he ventured.  
  
“Good. I was hoping that Shigino didn’t give me the wrong number,” Rin said. Sousuke felt all the air leave his body.

Sousuke swallowed a little. “I’m surprised he didn’t just put me in as an angry face.”

Rin laughed softly, and Sousuke felt like there were too many butterflies trapped inside his chest.  

“He did try.”  
  
Sousuke found himself chuckling a little. He had quite the wingman, he supposed. “I’m not sure whether I should thank him or throttle him.” He figured, at the very least, he’d finally treat Kisumi to a strawberry shortcake from that new cake shop that his friend had been talking about for the past week.

Rin snorted at that. “Thank him and then throttle him. Can’t let his ego get too big.” Oh. Sousuke _liked_ Rin.

“Speaking from experience, are we?”

Sousuke was surprised to find that he felt more at ease as the conversation progressed. When he finally hung up, the timer on the phone noted it had been nearly an hour since he had pressed the green button. Sousuke felt his heart do a flip when he felt the phone buzz again.

_I forgot to thank you for the coat!_

The next vibration signaled the arrival of a cute shark emoji. Sousuke could almost see Rin making a small smile that wasn’t unlike the little animated shark’s.  
  
His phone vibrated once more before Sousuke was presented with a photo of Rin grinning while wearing his coat. Rin’s hair was still in the loose ponytail, though perhaps a bit more mussed than it had been in the store. Sousuke’s coat hung loosely on the smaller man, and seemed to nearly swallow him whole. The dark coat made Rin’s hair look brighter, and Sousuke felt himself blush to the tips of his ears.

Well, he, at least, had a new wallpaper for his phone.


End file.
